Red Wings Show True Character, Rally Past Rangers

It's got to be said, if not before then certainly now after this game: The Detroit Red Wings are a scary, dangerous team.

For anyone who turned the television off after the first 20 minutes of this contest against the New York Rangers, few could fault you.  This game had as ugly a start as we've seen this season.  The difference tonight is that the Wings found a way to shift gears and start getting it done.  Going into the 2nd period down 2-0 and looking disconnected, Detroit hit the ice a completely new team.

What began as dominance by New York quickly turned the other way as the Wings roared back with 3 unanswered goals to take, and hold, a 3-2 lead to beat the Rangers for the first time in their last 6 meetings.  It didn't even take the big guns to get it done, with the Detroit goals coming from Riley Sheahan, Luke Glendening and Darren Helm.  The Red Wings' energy corps are becoming a true force to be reckoned with.

And what about the penalty kill?  Detroit spent most of the 3rd period on the PK thanks to consecutive, overlapping 5 on 3's.  The Red Wings were tall to the task, however, with Jimmy Howard making some spectacular saves to preserve the Wings' one-goal lead.

The win was also very special for Head Coach Mike Babcock, who tallied his 500th career win this evening.  The way things are going in Hockeytown, he's got many more to look forward to, and I believe he'll remain behind the Red Wings bench for the forseeable future.

So with the win, Detroit has now racked up 37 points.  With Montreal and Tampa both losing tonight, the Wings move past Montreal into 2nd in the Atlantic Division, only 2 points back of the Lightning for tops in the Division AND the Conference!

The next match-up is scheduled for tomorrow at 5:00 ET, when the Wings travel to meet the Carolina Hurricanes.  For now, though, we can savor the feeling of a well-earned Red Wings win.